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Deep Summer

There is always a certain morning in summer that seems magical, that moment when I step outside into a quiet world and say to myself “summer has arrived.” This morning, late in July, I finally had that moment. The sun in the eastern sky lit the trees along the road with a golden light, a wood thrush greeted me with its distinctive song, and the soft warm air promised a hot sunny day to come. I had no agenda other than to wander through the garden with Angel, accompanied by the drone of cicadas and the calls of robins and bluejays.
The garden is lush, almost voluptuous in its beauty, thanks to hot days and frequent thundershowers.

The daylilies are finishing their season, with a few welcome malingerers.

Hillside in mid-July

Susan Weber

Mystical Rainbow

Inquire Within

Persian Ruby

Later Alligator

El Desperado

Eggplant Ecstasy

Daylilies in full bloom

The roses have caught their second wind with fresh foliage and fulsome blooms.

Ambridge Rose

Charles Rennie Macintosh

The hydrangeas are bowed to the ground with a bounty of creamy white blossoms, fragrant and covered with tiny pollinators gathering food. Their busy wings remind me of last night, when I watched hundreds of fireflies rise up from the garden to sparkle and flicker their way into the trees.

Hydrangea ‘Limelight’

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle”

Garden in late July

Echinacea and Hydrangea

This was not a morning to rise before dawn and do the hard work of weeding and digging for hours in order to prepare for visitors. This was a lazy quiet morning to soak in every sight, sound, and scent the garden offered, a gift of deep summer, when the burdens of the world fade for a few hours and I live in the moment.

Echinacea ‘Ruby Star’ & Phlox paniculata

Lily ‘Altari’

Agastache rupestris

The perfect song for a lazy summer day: Barbra Streisand’s “Lazy Afternoon”

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. ~John Lubbock, The Use Of Life

Yellow and pink seem to be the leading colors for deep Summer. This is what our spring gardens look like. By now they are dry and faded. Looking forward to berry picking soon,
Thanks for commenting I had lost you

Ahh, thank you for describing sanity! 🙂
I love the Sam Keen quote, and the vision of fireflies – something I miss! And we don’t have the Wood thrush but we have Swainson’s, which has the same ethereal beauty. Lovely photos and post, so glad you shared your lazy morning.

Doug, thank you for your kind words. But not only did you walk through the garden, you actually helped me get it ready for the tour! I gave you a shout out in the last post, but I will do it again. Your help made all the difference.

Eliza, I couldn’t agree more! This summer I have often been too busy with other obligations to enjoy those lazy moments, so the shift towards embracing a lower gear is so welcome. Having the garden outside the doors makes it even better, as I’m sure you know – your gardens look absolutely gorgeous and I hope you can enjoy it in a leisurely way 🙂

Not sure if I want to see that this is a wonderful way to start the day …. or that morning is the best time to experience this moments. I guess both thoughts fit … and your words also fit with both. Well done, Lynn!

There have been days like that recently over here in the UK. We moved house last November and the garden of our new house (new to us, not newly built) looked dead and really rather neglected. This Spring and early summer have been a revelation as the garden has burst into bloom and each week has produced something new – Rhododendrons, Hydrangeas, Fuchsias, Honeysuckle, Clematis, It has been magical, and I don’t recall a year quite like it. Yes, we have worked hard bu,t we have been rewarded and it has been such a pleasure to sit and drink in the beauty in a garden. And be lazy even if it is only for just a few minutes.

Steve, thank you so much for the link. In reading some of his work, it still seems to hold a very timely, or perhaps timeless, message. No, I had not heard of Lubbock before but the quote moved me and inspired the post. In fact, many of the quotes in that BuzzFeed post were truly inspiring.

A lazy, quiet summer day sounds perfect, Lynn; bless you for indulging and for encouraging all of us to give ourselves the gift of being in the present when such a day is offered to us. Your garden looks so lovely and full of invitation. Perfect choice of music, too: thank you for all these treats!

It IS a gift, Kitty, and sometimes I forget to just “be” in it – and it is magical when that happens. Glad you enjoyed the song; it kept creeping into my head as I wrote the post. I hope you are enjoying your garden this summer!